Dear Chris and fans of 1965 Buick A-Bodies,
Yesterday I managed to send a quick email to my contact at OPGI to inform him about the $300 used hood ornament that was sold on eBay and Les's $650 NOS sale on V-8 Buick. Unfortunately, that thread appears to have been deleted. If I recall correctly, that NOS ornament sold within a few hours of being posted. So there can be no doubt, the need for these ornaments is genuinely desperate.
The reproductions the OPGI provided before had a tendency of breaking at the point where they attach to the base. I had one on my car and when I was drying it with a towel, I accidentally could the emblem and it snapped right off.
Hmm, I didn't know that OPGI ever carried reproductions of the 1965 hood ornament. Do do you if OPGI also had them manufactured or were carrying a product manufactured by someone else? Did they appear to be authentic in all other respects beside durability?
I assume the problems with that earlier production run are for
"the usual reasons . . . " keeping the cost down. If OPGI has the molds, they certainly could produce a durable ornament if people are willing to pay the price for the quality materials and workmanship. I just don't know where that price-point would end up.
If the price of a final product was reasonable and someone wanted to take on the project, you could count me in for one or two of them.
I understand that the reproduction hood ornament I have will suffer from the same color fading issues as the OPGI reproduction. So I would also be interested in joining a group purchase should someone be willing to take the lead on this.
Cheers, Edouard